A workshop instead of a Keynote …

with Angela Morelli

The clarity and power of our message
depends on the ways we structure the information we want to communicate.
Through this engaging hands-on workshop
we will explore the ways
in which we can organize information,
we will realize
that each way we choose
can create
new information,
new understanding and
new stories.

If you participate, please follow this link and answer the questionaire, thank you.

Design for Eternity

Peter Putz

Peter Putz examins convergences and contradictions between design and time using material taken from The Eternal Archives. He asks, is possible, usefull or even desireable at all for a connection to be made between design and sustainability. The Eternal Archives are the largest non-commercial and non-institutional image database in Austria with images that date from 1905, a meta data index, and comprehensive keywording. Regarding conception and collection, it is internationally oriented with an Austrian focus. They were started in 1980 by Peter Putz and can be understood as a ‘forced encyclopaedia‘ of contemporary identity and realities of life. The Eternal Archives can be regarded as an exemplary, contrapuntal project in a world that is, digitally speaking, almost completely mapped and documented.
The Eternal Archives ask questions such as: can subjective positions and personal perceptions come into existence and survive in a world which is a dense network of commercialized communication and data streams? This vast project detects seismographic fractures, interstitial spaces and faults and makes collecting, storing, and archiving in an era of data retention and continuous (data) surveillance a subject in its own right. It is an art project in the widest sense, concerned with perception and making things visible, a parallel universe to the digital (media) companies with their unremitting efforts to monetize the world.

Sustainable Typography

Martin Ashley

We need to radically re-think typography for text-rich business documents & publications. (not referring to books). Most designers assume people have time to read.In reality the following occurs:Observations:
1
we browse/forage (71%) then read (11%)
2
people have different time tolerances and requirements for detail. ie the same information is required to different levels of detailing dependent on the time the reader can allocate to it. (Senior directors will have less time than juniors).
3
People want choice as to whether they wish to view information on paper, i-phone, PowerPoint or via web/screen.
4
Most publications do not follow the cognitive principles of how we are Œwired‚ to interpret visual signals.

Message-based Design & Message-based Writing (MBD/MBW) is a system Ithat addresses these 4 points and allows key messages to be understood prior to reading simply by scanning page with its embedded Œvisual hooks‚ to draw reader in. Thus it overcomes Œfilter failure‚ a phrase coined and first used by Clay Shirky at the Web 2.0 Expo.It collapses to a summary and exploits the way we are wired‚. Additionally it caters for up to 4 time tolerances of readers and morphs‚ from paper to screen effortlessly.

Technical Information for Sustainability

Maria Eugenia Perez Lizarazo

By exploring the social dimension of information, the paper proposes a new view that could lead to empowerment of decision-makers in order to produce understanding of highly technical sustainability matters

Seeing is Believing

Will Stahl-Tiimmins

Being seen as a sustainable business may provide economic, social and other important benefits. However, this requires careful communication with customers and other stakeholders. In a world of greenwash and superficial concessions to environmental responsibility, how can businesses show the real impact of their sustainability efforts, in a way that will be believed?
Research is underway at the European Centre for Environment and Human Health (ECEHH) in the UK, to explore the possible benefits of using information graphics to explain such data. While visual techniques are frequently used in business to show financial data or resource flows, they are currently under-used for showing environmental contributions. The research at ECEHH aims to assess the use of information graphics for effective communication around sustainable business practices, with a focus on the impacts of the environment on human health. This research aims to establish:
- What different businesses feel they need to communicate about sustainability
- To which stakeholders
- The advantages and disadvantages of graphical presentations for such communications
- How these presentations might be produced (through individual design or automated tools, for example)
Many businesses have a significant role to play in reducing carbon emissions, and limiting their use of important resources such as fossil fuels, energy and water. Data produced by the UK‚s Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) show that business is the third-largest producer of carbon emissions in their analyses (see attached diagram). Graphical information presentation may provide ways of making important, but intangible environmental commitments more visible. Giving relevant information in an accessible form means that stakeholders can access data for themselves. For customers, investors, employees, local communities and other stakeholders, seeing is believing.

The 3 big indicators of sustainable development

Daniela Pock

This presentation will give an insight into our “SERI factory”: We at the Sustainable Europe Research Institute in Vienna are currently developing a visual way of communicating scientific knowledge coming from our various projects on sustainability. This is a first-hand look into our daily “work in progress”.

Betterday

Martin Strele & Axel Steinberger

Idea: How much CO2 emission is permissible for each individual and our planet? How does my lifestyle affect CO2 emission? What kind of lifestyle is good for us? The new campaign "A good day has 100 points" is intended to make us aware of how our lifestyles, habits and food choices affect CO2 emissions and what the alternatives are.
Outcome: Each human being can afford to emit around 6.8 kg of CO2 each day through their actions and consumer choices, in order to keep our planet and our climate in balance. We convert this amount to 100 points. Each day, each person has 100 points at their disposal.
Our food and consumer choices, our lifestyles, where we live, our energy consumption and our mobility directly and indirectly produce CO2 which is emitted into the atmosphere. Currently in Europe we are living way beyond our means. Instead of 100 points we spend an average of 450 points per day. We are living beyond our means not just where CO2 emission is concerned. Consuming more does not make us happier; travelling faster and further reduces our quality of life and can make us ill and lonely.
The new campaign "A good day has 100 points" wants to pinpoint where we waste points in our lives and how we can replace those choices and habits with more acceptable and climate-compatible alternatives. This is being done without large funding, extensive adverstising or media presence.

Visualizing Sustainable Development

Barbara Hahn / Christine Zimmermann

Using the example of the measuring data of sustainable development in Switzerland the research project aimed to develop and evaluate alternative representation forms for complex indicator systems. The key research question from the perspective of knowledge visualization was: which representation forms are suitable for the operationalization, analysis, steering and knowledge transfer of highly complex indicator systems?
Based on the multilayered and vast data of the MONET indicator system with its 75 indicators a broad range and variety of different visual concepts was developed by systematically using different graphic means. A wide range of visual concepts was continuously discussed and evaluated together with the project partners who also provided the data (Swiss Federal Statistical Office and Federal Office for Spatial Development). It was always important to make the abstract data accessible and to communicate it with all its dimensions ˆ from the synopsis to the detailed information ˆ within one visual system. Therefore we didn´t fall back on already existing familiar representation models such as pie charts or bar graphs ˆ but rather developed new specific visual systems.
In a multistage process three out of eight visual concepts were finally selected (rhomb, typography and circle) and the data of the MONET indicator system was visualized by means of these three visualization systems. On the base of interviews with experts from four different possible application areas respectively target audiences (policy, administration, education and public relation/media) the three visual concepts were finally evaluated and compared regarding legibility, comprehensibility and acceptability.

Smart Meters

Jan- Christoph Zoels

Smart meters must help people to translate energy information into behavioural change. Experientia is creating a framework for advanced smart meter design, which aggregates real-time energy consumption information, billing, savings tips, and social networking, in a people-centred device that encourages behavioural change. Smart meters should offer the ability to: check personal energy consumption information (raising awareness and understanding of real-time consumption); compare personal consumption with peers, goals, patterns and trends, and comparisons between similar offerings; and act to control consumption, through interactions offering personalised real-time tips, the ability to program and modify household settings and so on.

Campaigns for Behaviour Change

Many designers today are creating educational campaigns and communication materials that encourage individuals to act in more environmentally responsible ways. The problem is that there is currently a lack of guidelines to which designers can refer when creating these campaigns. In addition, communication designers are often unaware of relevant research in other disciplines. For example, over the past several decades psychologists have studied best practices for creating communications about environmental issues and have built a substantial body of knowledge. Connecting designers to this type of existing research will enable them to create more effective campaigns.
During my yearlong master‚s thesis project, I created a designer‚s roadmap: a resource to use when creating communication materials for environmental issues. The roadmap is a book that compiles research from my own studies and from existing literature in other fields, such as environmental psychology, decision sciences, and persuasive technology. It includes observations and practical tips people can put into practice throughout the design process, as well as a set of ethical principles that should be followed when designing for behavior change.
I believe that my work will help designers use communication to empower individuals with knowledge, encouraging them to begin and sustain a journey toward positive behavior change.

Narrative Information Design

Arlene Birt

As a visual storyteller,‚ artist and design educator, I am fascinated by the idea that we are endlessly tied to the world through the things we consume. Small, seemingly inconsequential actions populate our every-day, and yet the intricate life stories of these interactions are hidden from the eyes of their present consumer. By bringing attention to details of the background narratives of objects and ideas, my intent is to inspire consumers to understand how their everyday choices impact global environment and society.
As adjunct faculty at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design sustainability program, I also work with students to develop ways to visualize‚ sustainability ˆ concentrating on the technical Life Cycle Analysis (LCA).
In this presentation, I will present research and techniques for communicating sustainability; demonstrating how a visually-compelling story can present complex sustainability data in an approachable, layered format that can act as a tool for consumer education.

Key theories on behavior change from psychology

Karen Stanbridge

will give an overview of some of the key theories of behaviour change from psychology that are relevant to promoting sustainable behaviours. Use of these theories can lead to provision of information interventions intended to encourage people to change their behaviour. The paper will outline ways that might achieve behaviour change suggested by these theories and ask what contribution could Information Design make to increase the effectiveness of this information.
Discussion will include the Stages of Change Model by Prochaska and Diclemente, (1982) which details a number of different phases that people go through when trying to change their behaviour. This includes (among others) not thinking about change (precontemplation); preparation for change; and maintenance of the new behaviour. People at different stages require different types of information to support their change in behaviour, including awareness raising, detail of how to change, and rewards and encouragement to continue. What ways can these different types of information be presented to more effectively achieve their goals?
Other theories for discussion will include the theory of Planned Behaviour (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1980), and Social Dilemmas. All these theories suggest that the more people believe their actions have an impact, the more likely they are to change their behaviour, therefore a final area for discussion will be the potential for information design to help the public to understand the often complex environmental problems, and the impacts that their behaviour as an individual can have.

Sustainable Design

Michael Hardt

Sustainability what?
We are living in a time of well sounding empty word bubbles. In their attempt to make the normal look special, the advertisement industry exaggerates in inventing new or misusing meaningful terms and often crosses the line between truth and lie. The on-­‐off switch on a coffee machine mutates into the manual power supply device, a shop becomes a mega store and a stylish product is declared as design innovation. This bad habit of violating the language spreads like a disease and the term sustainability became one of the latest victims.
What for heaven‘s sake is sustainable design?
What is sustainability, what is design?
Are we talking about designed sustainability or design being sustainable? I want to try to find an answer. Let us start with the term sustainability:
Every organism on this planet is egoistic. In front it digs a hole and on its back it leaves a heap without giving a thought about eco-­‐friendly sustainable behaviour. This would be a disaster, if every single organism would not be an integrated woven nod within a sustainable network, simplified expressed as link of a food chain. We call this network nature. The space between the nods describes the limits of each organism. The human race was the first and so far only species which successfully managed to expand the limited space by designing an artificial network called culture.
Culture is the artificially designed supply circle in addition to nature. It is a survival strategy within nature. The permanent fight of survival happened in respect with nature, never against nature. The powerful means of technology mankind happened to invent especially in the last 300 years gave the false idea that the human race dominates nature. This had the devastating side effect that the cultural circle increasingly detached from the natural circle. But culture is a suicidal strategy without nature.

project : ecodesigners

Arnault Garcia

The website "ecodesigner" is a virtual community of professionals designers which are interested in making design with an sustainable and social approach. The website will contain a front office for public, client (directory - search tools - portfolio) and a back office provided services for designers (thematic files)
We want to show the project of designers (real or prototype) in a online portoflio and share experiences with other designers in order to promote design and create business opportunity. We are also associated with professionals organisations (AFD, AGD,…) tochoose the best practise for best design. At the first time the website will be available in english and french
then in spanish and german.

GeCo Card

Rashi Saxena and Kubilay Alton

They demonstrate how information can design support and contribute to activities in the field of sustainability.
For ages, public transport has been seen as an economical and eco-friendly alternative for mobility. The innovative GeCo Card is an acronym for GrEener Communities and can expand the scope of benefits of public transport to a greater horizon GeCo Card is the heart of a unique loyalty program, designed to boost:
1. Public transport
2. Local Businesses
3. Eco-sensitivity
GeCo Card requires the use of following technologies:
1. Smart cards (named GeCo Card)
2. Near Field Communication (NFC)
3. Cloud computing
4. Smart Phones
GeCo Card acts as a comprehensive Customer Relationship Management tool for public transport operators, and goes a step ahead by also raising customer consciousness and support for environment conservation and social sustainability.

Casestudy: Oy-Mittelberg

Andreas Koop

oy-mittelberg is a small village near the alps – like hundreds of others and they want to have a new broschure for their touristic marketing. But what they got was much more than that – a new strategy and a new orientation. In workshops we tried to figure out the situation and potential which led to the very mission: »hiking-time the whole
year«. a sustainable topic and an even concret developable approach. For all people there.

Green Steel

Sebastian Pernet, Jose Enrique Garcia, Maria Camarena and Tarun Mann

The efforts of the latest years for fostering a sustainable public transport have seemingly focused only on finding alternative eco-friendly solutions to conventional means of transportation (understood as vehicles) and it has slightly considered other elements of the public transport system such as infrastructure, which it is not per se a source of pollution even though it could be one in a roundabout way. At present most of the public transport infrastructure is vastly made of steel and concrete (among other materials) whose production releases greenhouse gases (as coal is needed) and erodes large portions of land (where one of its main components, sand, is deposited), respectively. But as well as there are low carbon fuels, there are also eco-friendly construction materials such as the "Guadua Macana". This Colombian-native fast-renewable kind of bamboo has been locally used for years to build low income houses as it is
considerably cheap and has a good structural behavior. That‚s why it is called the „green steel„. After reviewing the state of art (available bibliography and real life examples), Y4PT has proposed to extrapolate from, an Architecture view mainly, the advantages of the "Guadua Macana" for public transport benefit. That is how an inter-disciplinary group of young people has rendered a BRT station prototype capable of accommodating bi-articulated buses. It is scaled 1:1, carefully designed in AutoCAD and Rhinoceros 3D, and structurally feasible, ready to be applied in Bogota´s TransMilenio BRT System

Can you change the world with graphic design?

Helena Wimmer

Helena Wimmer talks about the principles of sustainable graphic design, gives a review of green design pioneers and shows cutting-edge case studies. Furthermore you will be provided with hands-on recommendations from the daily business of a green design studio.
x The concept of green graphic design
x Economical interests and environmental criteria
x Materials and production
x Best practice
x Case study: Biorama - Magazine on sustainable lifestyle. Interview with Artdirector Sig Ganhoer.